Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A rise in the number of foreign visitors to Spain picked up steam in April as arrivals from its two main markets, Britain and Germany, posted doubLe-digit growth, official data showed Monday.
Spain welcomed 4.7 million foreign tourists last month, a 20.95 percent jump from the same time last year, bringing total arrivals in the first four months of 2011 to 13.8 million - up 8.5 percent, the tourism ministry said.
The number of arrivals last month was boosted by the fact that the Easter week holidays this year were held in April while last year they were split between the end of March and the start of April, it said in a statement.
The number of tourists from Spain's main market Britain soared 42 percent in April over the same time last year to 1.15 million while the number of visitors from Germany rose 11.4 percent to 817,000.
The tourism industry, a mainstay of the economy, received a boost this year as the unrest in the Arab world cause tourists to switch to Spain rather than risk booking a holiday in a potential trouble spot.
The economic recovery underway in several northern European countries, especially Germany, has also contributed to the rise in visitor numbers to Spain as more people from those nations go on foreign holidays.
The Canary Islands archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, where resorts tend to offer all-inclusive packages like those available at seaside resorts in Tunisia and Egypt, saw the biggest jump in foreign tourist arrivals.
The archipelago received 912,977 foreign tourists in April, a 19.3 percent increase over the same time last year, bringing total arrivals in the first four months of 2011 to 3.7 million, up 26.7 percent.
Spain slipped from third to fourth place among the world's most visited countries in 2010, behind France, the United States and China, according to figures from the UN World Tourism Organisation.
It received 52.6 million foreign visitors last year, up slightly from 52.5 million in 2009.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments